DRUMMONDVILLE, QC – For the second consecutive night, Matt Sheppard proved that any path to victory at Autodrome Drummond must go through him. The 10-time Super DIRTcar Series champion surged past Mat Williamson with five laps remaining and held on to win Tuesday’s King of the North Finale. The victory marked Sheppard’s ninth Series win at the famed Quebec dirt track.
“I guess it was our week up here,” Sheppard said. “You come up here and win two big races that were $10,000 to win each. That’s a nice couple of days for us.”
Alex Yankowski and Williamson led the 75-lap Feature to the green flag. Williamson, the defending Series champion, gained the advantage in Turn 1 and secured the lead down the backstretch. Before completing the first lap, Yankowski lost another position when Felix Roy made an aggressive move in Turn 4 to take second place.
Roy held onto the spot for five laps until Yankowski switched lanes entering Turn 1 on Lap 7. That adjustment gave him the momentum to slip past Roy in the corner and reclaim second place. From there, Yankowski began his pursuit of Williamson.
The Pennsylvania driver closed the gap when Williamson encountered lapped traffic on Lap 14. For 15 laps, Yankowski made multiple attempts to pass Williamson in the middle groove but couldn’t complete the move. One of his best chances came on Lap 31 when Williamson struggled to clear the slower car of Steve Bernier. Yankowski dove to the middle again in Turns 1 and 2 but didn’t have the speed to make it stick. Then he tried the outside lane, only to hit the wall and fall back, giving Williamson breathing room. Despite the setback, Yankowski maintained pace until a caution flew on Lap 40 for Sebastien Gougeon.
While the battle raged up front, Sheppard quietly worked his way through the field. He passed Alex Payne for third on Lap 31, placing himself on the inside of the second row for the ensuing restart. Although he couldn’t capitalize on the Lap 43 restart, Sheppard struck on Lap 51, using the inside lane to edge past Yankowski and take over second place.
With fewer than 25 laps to go, Sheppard began reeling in Williamson. As the race wound down, Williamson hit traffic again, allowing Sheppard to close the gap with five laps left. On Lap 71, Sheppard exited Turn 2 with a burst of speed and dove low entering Turn 3. His momentum carried him past Williamson out of Turn 4 and into the lead.
Williamson responded with a crossover move, pulling alongside Sheppard down the frontstretch for one last challenge. But it wasn’t enough. Sheppard pulled ahead through Turn 1 and led the final four laps to earn his fourth Series victory of the season.
“Totally different scenario than last night,” Sheppard said. “Started on the pole and led 75 laps and felt like I was fading toward the end. But tonight, I started fifth, and it took me a long time to get up there. Once we did, I knew my best shot was in traffic. I felt like we were good and maneuverable enough—maybe even better than [Williamson] in traffic—that if the opportunity came, I could make the move.”
Williamson finished second, matching his best result at Autodrome Drummond. He pointed to his tire selection as a factor in the closing laps.
“The cautions helped me,” Williamson said. “I was on a softer tire than the other three guys. I knew I just needed a couple more yellows. If that last yellow comes five laps later, I think we’re okay. Second feels like a win to us because we haven’t been good up here.”
With his finish, Williamson extended his points lead to 10 over Yankowski, who completed the podium. Despite the strong finish, Yankowski was disappointed.
“Williamson did a good job on that first lap taking control of the race,” Yankowski said. “I thought on that long run we had a better car before the lapped traffic. Then, once we restarted, our tires were just beat up. I was so close to him for so long—I just wanted to squeak by, and it just didn’t play out that way.”
Since both Sheppard and Williamson had already secured spots in the Billy Whittaker Cars 200, Yankowski earned the guaranteed starting position for Super DIRT Week 53.
Tim Sears Jr. finished fourth, earning back-to-back top-five finishes, and Payne rounded out the top five.
Up Next: The Super DIRTcar Series concludes its three-night Canadian swing with a stop at Brockville Ontario Speedway on Wednesday, July 30, for the Canadian Classic.
King of the North Feature Results (75 Laps):
- 9S-Matt Sheppard [5]; 2. 88-Mat Williamson [2]; 3. 84Y-Alex Yankowski [1]; 4. 83X-Tim Sears Jr. [4]; 5. 70A-Alex Payne [8]; 6. 54-Steve Bernard [10]; 7. 25-Erick Rudolph [25]; 8. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [6]; 9. 91-Felix Roy [3]; 10. 21A-Peter Britten [16];
- ONE-David Hebert [15]; 12. 2-Jack Lehner [11]; 13. 15X-Justin Stone [7]; 14. 35R-William Racine [20]; 15. 6-Matt Stangle [19]; 16. 25P-Michael Parent [14]; 17. 54R-Even Racine [18]; 18. 91JR-Jeremy Roy [26]; 19. 12-Darren Smith [13]; 20. 123-Yan Bilodeau [24];
- 35B-Steve Bernier [21]; 22. 35-Mike Mahaney [23]; 23. 4-Anthony Perrego [9]; 24. 1M-Mathieu Desjardins [22]; 25. 3P-Martin Pelletier [27]; 26. (DNF) 41-Samuel Charland [17]; 27. (DNF) 15B-Brianna Ladouceur [28]; 28. (DNF) 44G-Sebastien Gougeon [12]
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